The landlord of a Westcountry pub has responded to a punter's one-star TripAdvisor review with a devastating takedown.

The customer at the Hobgoblin pub in Bristol claimed to be a police officer whose human rights were violated when staff refused to give her a free round of drinks when she dropped the previous round on the floor.

She later took to TripAdvisor to claim that the pub's staff had taken a "disliking" to her group and had an issue with "happy people", Bristol Live reports.

In his scathing riposte, landlord James Ayliffe asked the woman, "How's the head this morning?", and claimed she had been kicked out of the pub.

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The woman, registered on TripAdvisor as ‘Chloe A’ posted on the public review website on Saturday night.

Her review was headed ‘unreasonable’, and complained the bar staff took her for being drunk, even though she said she wasn’t.

She explained how she and four friends had entered the pub but her stay did not last long.

The One-Star review

“The staff took a disliking to us the second we walked in,” she wrote. “We are a group of five who haven't seen each other since uni.

“They told us we were too drunk despite not having any alcohol before entering the establishment. This pub clearly has an issue with happy people,” she added.

At least that Bristol Live's the best interpretation of what Chloe A wrote on TripAdvisor. She actually tapped in: “The staff good a disliking to use the second we walked in. We are a group of 5 who haven’t seen us since uni. They told us we were too drunk despite not having any alcohol before entering the establishmst. This pub clearly has an issue with happy people.”

The landlord at The Hobgoblin decided not to take the review lying down

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Hobgoblin owner James Ayliffe saw the review the next day, and immediately recognised who Chloe A was from the night before.

He told Bristol Live he decided to respond to set the record straight, and also back up his staff, who were left upset by the experience of dealing with Chloe.

James' response on TripAdvisor began inquiring after her health, before saying she might not be able to remember exactly what happened.

He explained things began well - she was served a round of drinks with no problem. But then Chloe A’s time in the Hobgoblin took something of a downward turn almost immediately, because as she carried them back to the table, she spilt all the drinks after ‘stumbling away from the bar, barging into another customer’.

And it was at this point, according to James, it started getting a little weird, and rather unpleasant for the staff behind the bar.

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She returned to the bar and ‘aggressively demanded’ replacement drinks for free, James wrote.

“At this point you began threatening a member of bar staff,” he wrote, followed up by a scathing remark. “You claimed to be a police officer and that you could arrest the member of staff (bizarrely for failing to ID you - we operate a ‘challenge 25’ policy which, let's face it, doesn't apply to you).

Food at the Hobgoblin pub in Gloucester Road, Bishopston

“You threatened to return the following day with senior officers to pursue this further and suggested that we were infringing on your human rights,” he added.

But James went on to explain the effect this behaviour had on staff and other customers. One member of staff was reduced to tears, other customers complained about her behaviour, he said.

And when the assistant manager asked Chloe A to leave, she was not going to go quietly.

According to James, she ‘continued to remonstrate aggressively with my assistant manager threatening all manner of consequences, demanding he hand over the full names of the staff who had refused to serve you so you could sue them for breaching your human rights’.

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“So the thing is Chloe, if what you say is true and you really weren't drunk when you arrived, then what you are asking us to accept is that these are the actions of you as a sober person,” he added, before ending by stating he was ‘completely comfortable’ with how she was treated by his staff, and suggesting that she should perhaps come to the bar with an apology.

Since he posted the response on the pub's Facebook page, it has gone viral.

Bristol Live has messaged Chloe A, but is yet to receive a response.

James Ayliffe said he took the decision to share his response as a show of support for the staff involved.

"We don't get many one-star reviews, in fact I think hers was the just the third, so mercifully we haven't particularly suffered from reviews like this," he told Bristol Live .

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"I didn't want to make a big deal about it, but I didn't feel I could just leave it unanswered.

"What has been really nice is that the response from customers has been almost universally positive - it's been really nice to see, and nice for the staff, because if you get a slightly unpleasant experience it can knock your confidence in dealing with people.

"What was also good was that a number of people commented that they were there and that the staff did really well and acted properly," he added.

James Ayliffe's response in full

Hi Chloe,

How's the head this morning?

I'd be surprised if you can actually remember your behaviour last night so, just in case it's a little foggy, let's have a recap, shall we?

Although you were initially served a round of drinks, after you stumbled away from the bar and barged into another customer, dropping your drinks on the floor, we began to realise that you weren't *entirely* sober. This assessment was further strengthened when you returned to the bar, aggressively demanding that your spilt drinks be replaced for free. You were refused.

At this point you began threatening a member of bar staff. You claimed to be a police officer and that you could arrest the member of staff (bizarrely for failing to ID you - we operate a "challenge 25" policy which, let's face it, doesn't apply to you). You threatened to return the following day with senior officers to pursue this further and suggested that we were infringing on your human rights.

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In the cold light of this morning these were rather obviously the angry ravings of someone well in their cups but as funny as it sounds now, you were extremely aggressive and intimidating at the time. A number of other customers commented that your behaviour was inappropriate, and you reduced the member of bar staff to tears.

Once we had discussed what had happened, we decided that frankly it would be best if you all moved on and we informed you that we wouldn't be serving you any further. Instead of leaving quietly with your friends you continued to remonstrate aggressively with my assistant manager threatening all manner of consequences, demanding he hand over the full names of the staff who had refused to serve you so you could sue them for breaching your human rights.

So the thing is Chloe, if what you say is true and you really weren't drunk when you arrived, then what you are asking us to accept is that these are the actions of you as a sober person.

I'm really not sure that paints you in a particularly flattering light either way and I am completely comfortable with how you were dealt with last night.

As for where we go from here, I'll leave that up to you. I'd suggest contrition and heartfelt apology as a bare minimum requirement to you being served here again (a decision that I'm leaving up to the targets of your unpleasantness) but you are, of course, free to seek to enforce your *ahem* human rights in the courts if you are so determined.